Tomorrow, is the Scary Cow Film Festival in San Francisco. What is a Scary Cow Film Festival you ask? Well, it’s not a festival dedicated to horror films with bovine killers, although that does sound interesting. No, Scary Cow is a film co-op out of the Bay Area that helps aspiring film-makers produce their films. The members run Scary Cow and all revenue that Scary Cow receives goes back to the members in the form of screenings, budgets, classes and more. Since 2007, they’ve made over 150 films and have given out over $130,000 to their members.

Scary Cow has no restrictions on what kinds of films can be made, so a film-maker could, in theory, make a cow-slasher flick if he or she wanted. The film-makers own all the rights to their film, so if by some odd chance their low-budget, indie film takes off and becomes the next Blair Witch Project, then they keep all the profits. But even if their film goes nowhere, Scary Cow offers a valuable service by allowing aspiring film-makers to actually get out there and make it happen; to actually learn by doing. It’s a great way for aspiring film-makers to hone their craft and build their resumes while working and networking with other Bay Area film-makers.

This will be their 15th film festival at the Castro Theatre and will feature 100% Bay Area-made films. Attendees will screen a bunch of short films and will be asked to vote for the best films and the film-makers with the most votes will receive budgets for their next project! So, it includes the audience in the film-making experience and allows them to decide which film-makers they want to see more of. After the screening there will be an after-party where you’ll be able to toast and mingle and this is also where they’ll be announcing the winners. So, you’ll have the opportunity to congratulate the lucky winners or console those that didn’t make the final cut. Either way, buy ’em a drink. It’s tough being a struggling artist.

They hold these every four months but they always sell out quick so be sure to pick up your tickets over here for tomorrow night’s screening. Maybe you’ll get the opportunity to see the work of the next Kubrick or Spielberg or Coppola before the world-at-large discovers them.